1. Field:
The invention is in the field of firearms, and in particular of singleshot, hand-held firearms.
2. State of the Art:
Over the years, various handguns have been developed for use in personal protection, offering ease of concealment or ease of operation. Often, these types of handguns are designed for use at close range and accuracy has been relatively unimportant.
Modern cartridges have internal primers which are used to ignite the gunpowder contained in the cartridge. These internal primers may be integral with the cartridge casing, as in rim-fire primers, or they may be separate components received by the casing, as in center-fire primers. With either type of primer, it is necessary to strike the primer with sufficient force to cause it to detonate, thus igniting the gunpowder and causing it to explode.
Various methods have been devised to impart sufficient force to a firing pin whereby it detonates the primer. One method employs a firing pin consisting of a simple rod that is movable between a position in contact with the primer and a retracted position out of contact with the primer, and a spring to bias the firing pin in the retracted position. This type of firing pin is typically struck by a falling hammer under tension from a second spring. The hammer causes the pin to strike the primer with sufficient force to detonate it.
A second method employs a firing pin which has a cocked, retracted position, and an uncocked, extended position in contact with the primer. This type of firing pin is cocked against the force of a spring and, when released, will move to its uncocked position with sufficient force to set off the primer.
These prior methods have relied upon springs to provide the striking force necessary to detonate a primer. One problem with use of springs is that they must be forced to a position under tension and then suddenly released. If they are left in a cocked position so as to be immediately ready to fire the firearm, there is the danger that they will release accidentally, or that they will weaken and thus be incapable of imparting sufficient force to the firing pin to cause it to detonate the primer.